CamTech Custom Baggers | 2011 Harley-Davidson Street Glide

Over the past year or so I’ve heard rumblings about CamTech Custom Baggers in Summerville, South Carolina. The CamTech crew led by Cameron Jurow, have won just about every motorcycle and bagger show they enter, including Bagger of the Year. CamTech’s bikes have graced the covers of just about every major magazine. When I first met Cameron he said he had a few bikes for me look at. Cameron emailed me one; then another an hour later. I decided to feature the first one I saw, but then Cameron just kept sending them in—I lost count after 11. I had to actually stop him as each bike was just making the decision harder. That’s when I decided upon the two-bike feature; both builds based on the popular Harley Street Glide platform. I caught up with Cameron and interrupted his busy day with some rapid-fire questions

TB: How did you get to be the bagger king?

CJ: Not sure if I am the king yet but I’m working on it! LOL. What’s funny is I raced and built outlaw 10.5 drag cars for years and did very well. I won the 10k Dollar to Win race twice which was called the King of the South so that was what I was called back then. Now the king name returns—that’s funny, I think.

TB: Why are baggers your specialty?

CJ: I just build them because they are so much fun and there are so many ways to express your ideas and designs. It’s nice to be able to ride a bike after you spend a ton of money on it. Unlike choppers, after all the work you could hardly ride them. With the baggers you can ride them and bring a passenger!

TB: When did CamTech build its first bagger? I remember you building hoppers; then what happened?

CJ: How I got into baggers is a pretty easy story. I did the chopper thing and had several. One day my buddies asked me to ride to a lunch spot about 120 miles away. I hopped on my 280-tire, hardtail, springer frontend bike and after trying to keep up with them on baggers running 90mph I bowed out and turned around. They teased me and said I needed a bagger. I told them I would never ride a geezer glide. The next day, Monday, my buddy came by my shop and said, “Run me to work and ride my bagger around today.” I said, “no,” but did it anyway. Later that day when I thought no one was looking I rode the bagger and the rest was history. I bought a brand new, solid black, ’06 Street Glide the next day. About two months later my wife reminded me I had 3 choppers in the garage, none of which had been ridden since the Street Glide came home. And, well, since I can’t leave anything alone; here we are today.

TB: Can you give me some info on your main guys that help you at CamTech?

CJ: Well, my wife is my #1 supporter; I couldn’t do it without her and she often has the ideas that go into the bikes. Darrin Davis helps me with all Autocad design and engineering as well as overseeing the entire operation. Josh Zak, my main fabricator, has been with me for several years and follows me through the trends. He is my metal master! Robbie Closson is my head mechanic and does all my assembly and builds. He is an ex dragbike racer so he has to put a gangster motor in all we build! David Lee and Chris Minichiello lays all the graphics from mild to wild. Mitch Melling and Mario Commacho do all our bodywork and fiberglass molding.

TB: Other than baggers tell me something that you want the world to know about Cameron Jurow.

CJ: I have 5 teenage kids: 4 girls and 1 boy, all of which love the bikes and I hope one day they will ride baggers with me as a family! In my spare time my wife and I play Call of Duty Black Ops on X-box 360 to all hours of the morning like kids. LOL.

TB: I understand you are a big supporter of our military.

CJ: Yes, there is a big military connection in SC. My wife and I got into military coatings work by accident, as we had a chassis shop building racecars for years and a bodyshop. One day a friend asked us to paint some parts for him in a hurry and he said he had the paint. It was a special mil/spec paint. We did it a few times for him and I realized there was a need for our quality and turn around in the field. So, all these years later we are still providing the coatings to many of the military part producers throughout the East Coast. My wife runs it so I can play with motorcycles! LOL. I told you she is the best.

TB: What trends do you see coming; the future of Baggerdom as you see it?

CJ: I think it has only just begun and I don’t see it ending like the choppers. These bikes you can ride and enjoy after investing so much time and money.

TB: Where is CamTech heading?

CJ: I hope to have an entire parts line this year with enough items to completely build a one-off bagger with the exception of a motor. All with my parts, even a frame.

TB: Any thoughts on rake and trail pertaining to the big wheel trend?

CJ: Rake and trail? LOL. I think that was forgotten! No, just kidding. Cutting and raking a bike correctly is the only way to do it. Many people call us for just trees but we wont sell them that without cutting their frame as well—just too dangerous. Done right, they ride awesome. To get the ride and the stance from a bagger with the huge 30-inch wheel makes it tough. We have two 30-inch builds going now so we will see how well they ride. If I have to engineer a new frame for the 30 that’s what we will do.

TB: What about audio, handling, comfort?

CJ: As far as audio goes, I am all about it! I owned a car stereo shop before also and love audio. I think the audio end of the baggers is only beginning. I am developing parts now for the audio side of the baggers.

TB: How about any Victory Motorcycles custom baggers?

CJ: I actually bought a Victory Vision last year with all intentions of cutting it for a 26-inch front wheel. I painted various parts black, lowered it, put wheels on it (21-inch front), and rode the hell out of it. I loved it and my wife loved it. Someone had to have it before I got to cut it up. I will do another one. They ride awesome!

TB: Is your parts line American made?

CJ: All our parts are 100-percent American made in our own facility in SC. We do every aspect of every build in-house. Except Diamond Cutting the heads. We build the motors, fabricate all metal parts, machine all parts, paint and graphics, all fiberglass and composites are in house also.

TB: What’s your goal?

CJ: My goal is to be one of the top 3, bagger builders in the country. Not only bikes, but parts also.

TB: Thanks Cameron; I’m looking forward to the expanded parts line and wish you continued success.

Below are stories from two CamTech customers on how and why they decided to customize their Street Glides and why CamTech.

The bagger craze had really started to consume Roger Bileau, the owner of the 2011 Street Glide with the “striped” blue graphics seen here. He already had a Road King but was thinking bigger, with a fairing and audio capabilities. Roger found himself constantly building bikes in his head, and then making a wish list of parts on scrap paper. Roger kept trying to turn a blind eye and not give into these urges; something many of you can probably relate to. Then one day it happened and Roger made a big decision—he traded his 2008 CVO Road King in for a brand new 2011 Street Glide. Soon after, trying hard to convince himself and selflessly putting his hopes of an all-star bagger aside, Roger looked his wife Erica dead in the eyes and said, “Honey I promise, I’m only going to change the wheels and put a new exhaust on this bike.” It was quite a statement from a man that just came off a pretty outstanding, stand-out-in-the-crowd bike like the limited edition CVO. It also turned out that those words to Erica were much easier said than done. You see, Roger is good friends with Cameron and the CamTech crew.

Within a week of having the new Street Glide, Roger just couldn’t get the dream bagger out of his mind, and his promises of mostly-stock Harley fidelity were fading fast. Roger was off and running and went to Cameron for advice. After several phone calls, text messages and e-mails, Roger and Cameron came up with a parts list and a build that would be sure to impress. It was not even two weeks and all Erica could do was roll her eyes—she knows how Roger is and knew he probably couldn’t ride a mostly stock bike for very long. Roger’s Street Glide was in a trailer heading south to go under the knife at CamTech. A few days later Roger received a text from Cameron, “now you’re F*#%$ED!” It was a picture of Roger’s new bike just sitting on the table, helpless, stripped, and naked. The neck was cut off and just lying on the floor. Cameron sent Roger texts and pics almost every day showing progress of the build.

To accommodate the planned new front wheel CamTech installed a Hawg Halters Inc. (HHI) neck kit and raked billet triple trees, followed by HHI single-sided brake mount fork sliders accented with Battistinis fork boots. Between the forks was a 26-inch Renegade Wheels’ Racine Phantom Cut front wheel. The bodywork would consist of CamTech outer fairing, dash, stretched gas tank and side covers. Sinister Industries was given the nod for front and rear fenders, saddlebags and lids.

The jaw-dropping paint was done in-house at CamTech. Cadillac’s new Black Diamond would be the backdrop for the House of Kolor Candy Oriental Blue graphics. The graphics actually look like they are moving when the sun hits it. The bike turned out even better than Roger had anticipated. Roger told us that it rides like a stock bike, handles perfect, and is very comfortable to ride.

However, Roger isn’t the type of guy to leave things alone, and by the time you read this it will be back at CamTech for phase 2 of the build. The stock seat will be replaced with an alligator piece. The radio will receive some much needed attention with a full CamTech audio treatment, Beatin’ inner fairing, double din radio, 6x9 speakers, amplifier, etc. The 103ci Twin Cam will get a big dose of power thanks to the installation of a ProCharger Supercharger.

Roger would like to thank his beautiful wife Erica for putting up with him throughout the build and his father for, among other things, taking him on the “Cannonball Run” road trips from Rhode Island to South Carolina. He fondly remembers the whole project as a great experience and would not be possible without them and the CamTech team including Cameron, Susan, Robbie, Chris, and Josh.

Eric Brown, the owner of the other Street Glide here with the silver tribal-looking graphics, originally wanted a V-Rod. Eric chose the Street Glide after seeing video of some California guys doing wheelies on big Harleys. Eric always loved choppers, sport-, and drag bikes, but when he saw those guys going through the gearbox, front wheel high in the air on full dressers, he had to have one. Eric really just wanted a cruiser so he and his girlfriend could ride together. All of Eric’s other bikes were customized so much his girlfriend couldn’t ride with him anymore. They were all rigid-framed or race bikes. So, Eric figured he try to customize a touring bike.

The first week Eric had the bike he cut up the saddlebags and faring to install a 900 watt JL Audio system with 10 Memphis speakers and a Alpine head unit. Eric’s plan was to keep the bike stock with a loud stereo. A week later he went on a ride with some friends from North Carolina that had really nice baggers. The chrome wheels must have hypnotized him because when he got back to New Jersey Eric stripped the bike down to the frame. Eric blacked out the dash and forks, lowered the front and back, installed an FBI Drop Seat rear section, and put a 21-inch wheel on the front. It was the first time Eric had ever worked on a Harley! It took him 12 hours to fish the wires through the new Yaffe handlebars. Along the way Eric said he was about to give up and hang the bars on his wall like a set of deer antlers.

Don’t think that this bike is all show and no go though. Eric had the motor torn apart and had the 96-inch Twin Cam boosted to 107 cubic inches. Many of the go-fast parts were sourced through Revolution Performance—folks that know how to make some serious horsepower. In addition to the Rev Performance big-bore top end and heads, a set of S&S cams was installed. The stock Harley throttle body and ignition timing is controlled through a ThunderMax unit with AutoTune. A stylish, yet cool PM air cleaner gets the air into the motor while the bad-boy of the exhaust world, a Thunderheader is responsible for both announcing Eric’s arrival and getting the spent gas out of the motor.

Eric took it to Myrtle Beach for the big spring bike event held in the area and his custom Glide was turning a lot of heads. That was until he ran into some friends with baggers from Detroit and California. He felt his bike needed more to hang with the big boys. Eric had seen CamTech Custom Baggers online, and since he was already in South Carolina Eric decided to stop by. When Eric saw Cameron’s personal bike up close it was love at first sight. Eric told Robbie he wanted something long and low with classy paint, a 23-inch front wheel and the custom tank and side panels had to flow together like it was a one piece unit. Eric wound up leaving his bagger at CamTech and went back home to the Garden State. Two months later Eric felt he had the baddest Street Glide in NJ.

Eric says he was as happy as a pig in mud for months until he went back down south. CamTech had built some new bikes and Eric realized the 23-inch rim wasn’t big enough for him. He needed the 26-inch MetalSport-Foose Nitrous wheel in his life. So Eric and Cameron went back to the drawing board and started by adding a PM open primary, new Battistini controls along with Sinister’s tour pack. Eric now thinks it is the coolest Harley on the Planet, not just New Jersey anymore. Eric summed it up like this, “It’s so gangster when it’s rollin’ down the street.” B

Spec Sheet